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Anna Gibson

Meet the Locals

INTERVIEW BY CLARK FORSTER

Photo by Bradly J. Boner

WHEN ANNA GIBSON started high school in fall 2013, she had no idea the success that would soon come her way. Late that September, the then-fourteen-year-old won her first varsity cross-country meet—which was also her first cross-country race. The rest of the season, she finished out of first place only once (she was third). She ended as the girls’ 3A Wyoming Cross-Country State Champion. Gatorade named her the state’s best female runner. That winter, Gibson, previously only an alpine ski racer, decided she’d compete on the Nordic ski team. “I thought it’d be a good way to stay in shape for cross-country,” she says. By that season’s end, she had another individual state title, 5-kilometer 3A Wyoming Nordic Ski State Champion, on her resume. (She also had a team title, helping lead the Broncs to their ninth overall state championship.) Still, Gibson wasn’t ready to relax. Come spring, she ran on the track and field team, winning a regional title in the 1,600 meters (5:13.96). Through it all, she managed a 4.0 GPA. We actually managed to get her to sit still long enough for a short interview.

Q: Are you competitive in all areas of your life?A: I’m competitive with myself with almost everything I do. I always want to be better in all areas of my life. Sometimes my friends that are involved in the same sports get competitive, too; we’ll start comparing test scores or other things that we all did. I think this is good for all of us—we’re all pushed to work harder.

Q: Did you start your freshman year with any grand athletic goals?A: No. It wasn’t until halfway through the cross-country season that my coach started telling me, “You can do this. Start training really hard.” At the beginning of Nordic I didn’t know at all how I would do relative to everyone else. I just knew I liked skiing.

Q: What do you feel sports have done for you?A: I love the identity running gives me. I love being surrounded by a group of varsity athletes who are motivated to be the best they can be. Sports are not only good for physical health but also for mental health. They’ve also taught me to manage my time and made me well-rounded.

Q: Your name was in the newspaper almost every week for winning some race. Do you keep those articles?A: I cut them all out and hang them on my wall. I see them and use that as motivation to go race hard again.

Q: Was there any one you hated?A: No. Being in the paper is always an honor. Seeing my name in the black print alongside my teammates each time makes me excited.

Q: What’s your training schedule like?A: I train almost every day. I switch between Nordic and cross-country. I’ll take a little break between the seasons just to mentally stay ready and not get hurt, too.

Q: What does a “break” look like for you?A: It’s usually between one and two weeks. During that time I get ahead with my schoolwork.

Q: Goals for the next three years?A: I want to keep having fun, obviously. Hopefully I’ll have more state titles in Nordic and cross-country and hopefully track. I also want to start to race nationally a little bit more than I did this year.

Q: What about outside of sports?A: Grades are really important to me, and I work on homework the majority of the time that I’m not at practice or a race. This doesn’t leave time for much else, and I have found that this is totally fine with me. Sports are my social life. Making awesome friends comes easily when you go through so much training and racing and time together. It’s hard not to love my teammates.